The Bridge at Cornell Tech to Connect Academia, Business

The Bridge at Cornell Tech will offer space for startups and established companies pushing the edge of digital technology...

The Bridge at Cornell Tech will house companies, researchers and entrepreneurs on the east end of Roosevelt Island. It is scheduled to open in summer 2017.

Via Cornell Chronicle, 6/17/15

The Bridge at Cornell Tech, a building to rise at the heart of Cornell Tech’s Roosevelt Island campus, will offer space for startups and established companies pushing the edge of digital technology. The Bridge at Cornell Tech will house companies, researchers and entrepreneurs focused on innovation and commercialization of new products and technologies, driving economic growth for New York. Construction began in May; the building will be part of phase one of Cornell Tech’s campus, opening in summer 2017.

“Cornell Tech has already made great strides in fusing academia and industry in our academic and research programs, and The Bridge will be the physical manifestation of that mission on our campus on Roosevelt Island,” said Cornell Tech Dean Dan Huttenlocher. “The Bridge will be the epicenter of this fusion on campus, putting practitioners, companies, students, faculty and researchers in close proximity to one another in a design that encourages collaboration.”

The Bridge at Cornell Tech, developed by Forest City Ratner Companies and designed by WEISS/MANFREDI, will house a mix of cutting-edge companies working alongside Cornell academic teams, from recent Cornell Tech graduates spinning out new company ideas to startups and established companies testing their next product. Designed with flexible spaces and loft-like common areas, the building will encourage interactions and collaborations that solve problems, build partnerships and accelerate new products to market.

“The Bridge is a crystalline incubator with river-to-river views and creates a three-dimensional crossroads, an ecosystem of innovation that catalyzes collaboration between academics and entrepreneurs,” according to Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, design partners at WEISS/MANFREDI.

The building is being designed to achieve LEED Silver certification. Situated on the east side of Roosevelt Island, it will feature expansive views of the waterfront, Queens and Manhattan. It will be one of the three main buildings as part of phase one of Cornell Tech’s campus, which also includes The Bloomberg Center academic building, the world’s first residential high-rise building that will be built to passive house standards, and substantial open space. The campus will be one of the most environmentally friendly and energy-efficient campuses in the world.

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